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Hi, my name is Gabrielle.
I’m visiting my auntie.
She works on a boat in San Francisco Bay.
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Auntie is the captain of a tugboat.
Tugboats help big ships move around the bay.
Today, I get to go on the boat with her!
But before we go, in the middle of breakfast, I hear a terrible sound.
BLAAT!
It sounds like something huge and scary.
“What was that?!” I ask Auntie. “Was it a monster?”
“Don’t worry,” Auntie says. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
I thought maybe the sound came from a big gray fog monster.
Or maybe it was the sound of a whale.
Or maybe it was the bridge moving in the wind.
Stop & Talk
“On the bay, that sound is really helpful,” Auntie tells me.
I don’t know how a monster can be helpful, but once I get on the boat, I forget to be afraid.
Out on the water, there’s so much to see.
There are so many boats!
I wonder…do the boats ever run into each other?
Get Up & Move!
Auntie toots the boat horn.
“I’m signaling so other boats know we’re here,” she says. “I toot the horn even more when it’s foggy or dark.”
“What are those things floating in the water?” I ask.
“Those are buoys,” Auntie says. “Some are green, some are yellow, and some are red.”
“What are they for?” I ask. “Why are they different colors?”
“Red and green buoys tell boats where to go,” Auntie tells me. “Yellow buoys tell boats where not to go.”
“Boats on the water are kind of like cars on the road,” Auntie says.
“Remember when your mom drove you to my house? There were lots of cars, but they didn’t crash.”
Stop & Talk
I think I get it!
On the road, lights, sounds, and colors help tell cars where to go.
On the water, lights, sounds, and colors help tell boats where to go.
Auntie says different kinds of buoys make different sounds.
Buoys can ring like bells.
Sometimes they even whistle!
When my mom drove me to Auntie’s, we were in a car on top of the bridge.
Now we’re sailing under the bridge!
We’ve made it to where the bay starts.
This is where tugboats meet big ships coming in from the sea.
Look! There’s fog coming in.
We can’t see very far anymore.
Even the bridge has disappeared in the fog.
Stop & Talk
“Look! The lighthouse is sending its beam out to sea. It’s helping the big ship find its way.”
Auntie smiles. “That’s right,” she says.
In the fog, I can’t see the buoys, but I can hear them.
Auntie says the sounds tell her where we are.
The lighthouse and buoys are helping the big ship, too.
But then I hear the same noise I heard this morning—only ten times louder.
BLAAAAT!
It’s coming from the bridge!
“What is that?” I ask Auntie. “It sounds like a monster.”
“Is the lighthouse a monster?” Auntie asks. “Are the ringing buoys monsters?”
I laugh. “Those aren’t monsters. They help us find our way.”
“Right,” says Auntie. “The big noise helps, too. It’s called a foghorn.”
“The foghorn is on the bridge. When ship captains hear that sound, they know where the bridge is, even in the fog.”
There’s the big ship, coming out of the fog!
Auntie knows what to do.
She toots her horn, and the big ship knows we’re there.
The ship’s captain is happy to see us.
Auntie and her tugboat will help the big ship find its way to the dock.
Auntie watches for the light from the lighthouse.
She listens for the foghorn and the sounds of the buoys.
Auntie’s tugboat guides the big ship to the dock.
Then she takes us home.
In bed that night, I hear the noise of the foghorn, but it doesn’t sound like a monster at all.
I know it’s helping boats find their way home.
THE END
Like cars on a road, boats on a bay use color and sound to find their way around. These activities let students explore their own skills of watching and listening, and practice some of the sound words they hear every day.
This classic game can be played indoors or outside. The object is for students to respond to your signal—"red light" means stop, and "green light" means go. If you have lots of space, students can walk or run toward you when you say "green light". If you’re indoors, you can have students march in place and stop when you say "red light". You can also play the game by holding up red and green construction paper as visual cues for "stop" and "go".
Find more ideas for Red Light/Green Light here.
Have students write these five words on index cards:
- clap
- whistle
- tap
- snap
- stomp
When you’re ready to play, ask students to cover their eyes while you make one of these sounds. Then have students open their eyes, decide which sound they heard, and hold up the card they think has the correct word on it. If there’s disagreement, make the sound again with students watching, and ask them if they want to change their guess.
